Bete Noir
by favefangirl
Summary: A Tony/Kate short one-shot about how the events of Ari's first introduction to NCIS changes what Tony has nightmares about. Please review.


"Gibbs figures he was wearing a vest the whole time." I say, the rythmic tapping of my fingers on the keyboard echoed over my words.

"He was, I felt it." Kate replies, looking up from her computor screen and at me.

"You felt it?" I ask, "How close to him did you have to be to feel it?"

I stand up from my uncomfortable office chair and walk slowly over to Kate's desk. She looks up at me with her big brown eyes, and I have to remind myself how to breathe. Despite her demeaner, I can tell she's still quite scared. Her breathe is quickened, and her eyes are wider than usual.

I soften my voice, "Close enough to touch him? With your hand or-"

"Close enough to stab him with a knife in my hand." Kate replies sharply.

I raise my eyebrows without meaning to, then quickly lower them again. "And you didn't?"

Kate shrugs, and even that looks elegant. "No."

"Stockhome Syndrome?" I joke, trying to draw a smile from her lips.

She looks at me with somthing extremely close to a glare and says, "You can't know your attacker in an hour, Tony."

"Maybe it's like falling in love." I whisper, half to myself. "Sometimes it happens just like-" I click my fingers and smile "-that."

I grin to myself as I walk back to my desk, and fall backwards into my chair. I turn to my computor and begin to type up my report once again. I'm so entranced by my work and my own thoughts that it isn't until Kate says, "Goodnight, Tony." That I realise where I still am. I look up, smile and nod, then turn back to my distraction.

XxXxX

When I return to my apartment a few hours later, I'm greeted by silence and loneliness. Kate's laugh echoes in my head, and switch on my radio and turn it up to 11. Some guy advertising a new fast food resteraunt slices the sound almost angrily.

I slip off my jacket, and throw my bag onto a chair. I flop down onto my couch and my heavy eyelids close without any force from me. I fall to sleep nearly immediatley, the days many trials having taken it's toll on my body mentally and physically.

A gun shot fires in the distance. I recognise my surroundings as the door into the hallway outside Autopsy, and the red lights create an eeiry glow everywhere. A scream follows almost immediately, and I can hear Duckies cries even from here.

"All teams go!" I hear yelled into my ear, and realise I'm wearing a comm unit.

 _I'm suddenly alert and move in. The door opens automatically, and inside everything is white. Everything except the patches of red everywhere, and Kate's body lying in the centre of the room. She's dressed all in black, with a black-rose bouquet in her hands on her chest. My breathe catches in my throat, and all I hear is the sounds of that bastards laughing. I look all around but all I can see is Kate's face, and she looks so_ disapointed _in me._

I wake up with a cry at my lips. My breath is laboured as I pick myself up from the floor where I landed next to my couch. I shake the fuzziness out of my head and try to get rid of the noise that is blasting into my ears. It takes me a while to realise that the sound is actually radio which is still blaring the music I had turned on before I slept.

I clamber to my feet then stumble over to it, and switch it off. Silence seeps through the room, and it's almost comforting to me. My eyes finally adjust to the dim light penetrating my window. The street lamps from the street below illuminate a couple, they're stood so close together, their arms wrapped around each other. My heart aches for that closeness, and I know that I want it with her.

Reluctantly, I drag myself into my bedroom. I fall onto my bed and attempt to get comfortable, but I know that my dreams will be haunted by her. I sigh, turning onto my back to stare at my ceiling. Kate has been at the front of my thoughts for as long as she's been employed by NCIS, and I can never seem to get her out of my head. My heart stopped when I was told that she was a hostage in Autopsy, I don't know what I'd do if she'd really died.

XxXxX

"Morning, Tony." Kate smiles as she takes her seat at her desk.

"Can I ask you a question Kate?" I ask.

She shoots me a confused look before replying, "Sure, but if it's innapropriate, I will shoot you. I can promise you that."

I give a breathy laugh before saying, "Do you believe in love at first sight?"

"Grab your gear." Gibbs orders, walking through mine and Kate's conversation.

Kate and I nod before begining to collect our things. "Dead bodie's been found in a night club." Gibbs says, grabbing his six from inside his drawer. He then begins to lead us out of the office and into the elevator.

"Yes." Kate whispers as she passes me, and I can't help but grin wider than ever before.


End file.
